oil, and then highly polished, resembles the wood of the walnut. In Britain, as far as we know, the wood of the Oriental plane has scarcely been applied to any purpose either useful or ornamental; though for both it may be classed, as Marshall suggests, with that of the A'cer Pseudo-Plátanus; or, according to some French authors, with that of the beech or the hornbeam. By the Persians, and by the Greeks and Romans, as we have already seen, the tree, in a growing state, was greatly esteemed for its shade, and was planted near houses, in open groves, avenues, and rows, for that purpose. Pliny affirms that there is no tree whatsoever that defends us so well from the heat of the sun in summer, or that admits it more kindly in winter. Both properties result from the large size of its leaves: in summer, these present horizontal imbricated masses, which, while they are favourable to the passage of the breeze, yet exclude both the sun and the rain; while, as the distance at which the branches and twigs of trees are from one another, is always proportionate to the size of the leaves, hence the tree, in winter, is more than usually open to the sun's rays. As an ornamental tree, no one, which attains so large a size, has a finer appearance, standing singly, or in small groups, upon a lawn, where there is room to allow its lower branches, which stretch themselves horizontally to a considerable distance, gracefully to bend towards the ground, and turn up at their extremities. The peculiar characteristic of the tree, indeed, is the combination which it presents of majesty and gracefulness; an expression which is produced by the massive, and yet open and varied character of its head, the bending of its branches, and their feathering to the ground. In this respect, it is greatly superior to the lime tree, which comes nearest to it in the general character of the head; but which forms a much more compact and lumpish mass of foliage in summer, and, in winter, is so crowded with branches and spray, as to prevent, in a great measure, the sun from penetrating through them. The head of the plane tree, during sunshine, often abounds in what painters call flickering lights; the consequence of the branches of the head separating themselves into what may be called horizontal undulating strata, or, as it is called in artistical phraseology, tufting, easily put in motion by the wind, and through openings in which the rays of the sun penetrate, and strike on the foliage below. The tree is by no means so suitable for an extensive park, or for imitations of forest scenery, as most others; but, from its mild and gentle expression, its usefulness for shade in summer, and for admitting the sun in winter, it is peculiarly adapted for pleasure-grounds, and, where there is room, for planting near houses and buildings. For the latter purpose, it is particularly well adapted even in winter, from the colour of the bark of the trunk, which has a greyish white tint, not unlike the colour of some kinds of freestone. The colour of the foliage, in dry soil, is also of a dull greyish green; which, receiving the light in numerous horizontal tuftings, readily harmonises with the colour of stone walls. It appears, also, not to be much injured by smoke, since there are trees of it of considerable size in the very heart of London: one, for example, in Cheapside. Soil, Situation, Propagation, &c. A light deep free soil, moist, but not wet at bottom, is that on which the Oriental plane tree thrives best; and the situation should be sheltered, but, at the same time, not shaded or crowded by other trees. It will scarcely grow in strong clays, and on elevated exposed places; nor will it thrive in places where the lime tree does not prosper. The plane tree may be propagated by seeds, layers, or cuttings. The seeds should be gathered in October or November; and, the balls being broken by the hand, or by threshing with a flail, the seeds may be separated from their husks, and cleaned by the usual processes, and either sown immediately, or mixed with sand, or fine sandy soil, and preserved in a place secure from frost till February or March. The seeds may also be kept in the balls, or catkins, till spring; either by allowing them to hang on the tree, or by gathering them in autumn, and spreading them out in a dry loft. The general practice is to sow the seeds in autumn, or as soon as gathered, or received from the Continent; choosing a moist rich soil, and a shady situation, and covering them

as lightly as those of the birch or alder are covered, or beating them in with the back of the spade, and not covering them at all; and protecting the beds with litter of some sort, to exclude the frost. (See p. 1685.) The plants will come up the following spring, and, after two years' growth, will be fit for transplanting into nursery lines, there to undergo the usual routine of nursery culture. (See P. occidentalis, Propagation and Culture.) Cuttings of the Oriental plane, put in in autumn, in a sandy soil, and in a shady situation, will root, but by no means readily; and, therefore, this method is never resorted to by nurserymen. Layers soonest produce saleable plants; and this mode is almost universally adopted, both in Britain and on the Continent. Layers may be made either in autumn or spring: they root freely, producing shoots 3 ft. or 4 ft. in length the first year; and they are ready to be taken off the following autumn. After being one year in the nursery lines, they may be removed to where they are finally to remain; but, if they are to be planted as single trees, and separately fenced, they should be kept in the nursery till they are 15 ft. or 20 ft. high; care being taken to transplant them every year, and to prune their heads in proportion to the losses sustained by their roots in transplanting. Trees so treated will seldom fail when removed to their final situation; but, if there should be any doubt of this, it may be removed, by cutting off the greater number of side branches from the head, shortening the leading shoot, and coating the wounds over with a composition, to exclude the air.

Statistics. Recorded Trees. In addition to the remarkable trees recorded by the Greek and Roman authors (see p. 2057.), the following may be noticed as having flourished in more modern times. Hasselquist mentions a plane tree in the island of Cos (now Stanchio), the circumference of the trunk of which was 25 British feet. He brought a specimen of the tree to Linnæus; and it is now in the Linnæan herbarium. The celebrated plane tree at Buyukdère, or the Great Valley, is mentioned by Olivier, and, after him, by Pocqueville, Hobhouse, and various other writers. Olivier says that the trunk presents the appearance of 7 or 8 trees, having a common origin, which he supposes to be the stool of a decayed tree, and which were all connected at their base. Dr. Walsh, who measured the tree in 1851, found the trunk 141 f. in circumference at the base, and its branches covering a space 150 ft. in diameter. The trunk, he says, "divides into 14 branches, some ot which issue from below the present surface of the soil, and some do not divide till they rise 7 ft. or 8 ft. above it. One of the largest is hollowed out by fire, and affords a cabin to shelter a husband. man. The tree, if it can be considered a single plant, is certainly the largest in the world. Among other travellers who notice it is a Frenchman who describes it, with some truth, as un temple de verdure, surmonté d'un dôme prêt à toucher les nues.' When the Turks encamp in this valley, the hollow of this great tree affords a magnificent tent to the seraskier who commands them, with all his officers. But what renders the tree an object of more than usual interest is, that M. De Candolle conjectures that it must be more than 2000 years old. Though it has become such an object of admiration to recent travellers, Gillies takes no notice of it, nor even Tournefort, whose botanical pursuits would naturally have led him to do so." (Residence in Constantinople, &c.) Near Nostizza, the Ecium of the ancients, on the beach of the stream Selinus, Hobhouse found "the enormous plane tree which was notorious in the time of Chandler. One of its largest branches, as thick as the trunk of most trees, has lately fallen off; and many of the other boughs are supported by long beams of wood." (Journ. of Travels in Albania, p. 229.) The same tree is described by Buckingham as being 15 ft. in diameter, and 100 ft. in height, and as being covered with rich and luxuriant foliage. The plane tree at Lee Court is mentioned by Evelyn as having been seen by him on September 16. 1683. A portrait of this tree was published by Strutt, in his Sylva Britannica, p. 112. The circumference of the trunk, when measured by Mr. Strutt, was 14 ft. 8 in. at 6 ft. from the ground; the height was 65 ft.; and it contained 301 cubic feet of timber. In Manning and Bray's Surrey, vol. iii. p. 136., several large Oriental planes are mentioned as growing at the seat of Sir William Temple, at Moor Park, near Farnham; but, being afterwards destroyed by the severe frost of 1808 and 1809, it is more than probable they were Occidental planes. Dr. Walker mentions several large plane trees as exist ing in Scotland in 1777; using the term sycamore, at that time generally applied to the platanus in Scotland. One of the largest was in the Isle of Bute, at Mount Stewart; where, on the 1st of September, 1786, the trunk measured 6 ft. 10 in. in circumference at 4 ft. from the ground. This tree was planted by the Earl of Bute in 1738. In the year 1771, there was a row of Platanus along the side of one of the streets in Rothsay, which grew there like willows; but, before the year 1774, they were all removed, to give place to new buildings. In Belgium, near Ghent, in the grounds of the villa of M. Meulemeester, Dr. Neill found, in 1817, an avenue of Oriental planes, the finest he ever saw. The trees were, in general, about 70 ft. high, trained up to the height of about 40 ft., and the trunks quite clean and healthy.

Existing Trees. In the environs of London, at Mount Grove, Hampstead, 80 years old, it is 77 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 4 ft. 4 in., and of the head 90 ft.; in the Chelsea Botanic Garden, it is upwards of 70 ft. high; at Lambeth, the one before mentioned, 90 ft. high; and one in the grounds of the Duke of Devonshire's villa, at Chiswick, not very high, but with a head 100 ft. in diameter. South of London in Dorsetshire, at Melbury Park, 25 years planted, it is 44 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 3 in., and that of the head 30 ft.: in Hampshire, at Alresford, 41 years planted, it is 76 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6in., and that of the head 52 ft.: in Somersetshire, at Nettlecombe, 40 years planted, it is 64 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. in Sussex, at West Dean, 15 years planted, it is 36 ft. high in Wiltshire, at Wardour Castle, 40 years planted, it is 40 ft. high, the diame. ter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and that of the head 38 ft.; at Longford Castle it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 4 ft. 6 in., and that of the head 64 ft. North of London: in Berkshire, at White Knights, 19 years planted, it is 26 ft. high in Buckinghamshire, at Temple House, 13 years planted, it is 20 ft. high in Pembrokeshire, at Stackpole Court, 40 years planted, it is 60 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and that of the head 30 ft.: in Shropshire, at Willey Park, 15 years planted, it is 26 ft. high: in Worcestershire, at Croome, 58 years planted, it is 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of

the head 60 ft. in Yorkshire, at Grimston, 14 years planted, it is 45 ft. high.-In Scotland. In the environs of Edinburgh, at Gosford House, 30 years old, it is 25 ft. high, with a trunk 2 ft. 3 in. in circumference; at Biel, it is 64 ft. high: in Banffshire, at Gordon Castle, 66 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 2 in., and that of the head 64 ft. in Ross-shire, at Brahan Castle, 50 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft., and of the head 40 ft.-In Ireland. South of Dublin: in Kilkenny, at Woodstock Park, 70 years planted, it is 68 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and of the head 48 ft.: in Tipperary, in Higgins's Nursery, Clonmel, 50 years planted, it is 70 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft., and that of the head 63 ft. North of Dublin: in the county of Down, at Castle Ward, 80 years planted, it is 32 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2ft., and that of the head 54 ft.: in Louth, at Oriel Temple, 36 years planted, it is 34 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and that of the head 28 ft. -In France, in the Jardin des Plantes, 150 years old, it is 74 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 3 ft. 8 in. - In Hanover, at Harbeke, 8 years planted, it is 7 ft. high; in the Botanic Garden, Göttingen, 20 years planted, it is 12 ft. high-In Austria, at Vienna, in the University Botanic Garden, 35 years planted, it is 36 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 13 in.; in Rosenthal's Nursery, 20 years planted, it is 27 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1 ft., and of the head 24 ft.; at Brück on the Leytha, 15 years old, it is 18 ft. high.-In Sweden, at Lund, in the Botanic Garden, 42 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 14 in., and that of the head 28 ft.-In Italy, in Lombardy, at Monza, 29 years planted, it is 80 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 2 ft. 6 in., and of the head 106 ft.

Commercial Statistics. Plants raised from layers of the species, in the London nurseries, are 1s. each; and of P. o. cuneàta, 1s. 6d. each: at Bollwyller, from 1 franc to 1 franc and 50 cents; and at New York, 50 cents.

2. P. OCCIDENTALIS L. The Western Plane.

Identification. Willd. Sp. Pl., 4. 475.; Hort. Cliff., 78.; Roy Lugd., 7.; Grön. Virg., 151.; Kalm It., 2. p. 198.; Mill. Dict., No. 2.; Du Roy Harbk., 2. p. 134.; Medic. in Obs. Soc. Econ. Lutr., 1774, p. 239.; N. Du Ham. 2. p. 5.

Synonymes. P. occidentalis seu virginiensis Park. Theatr., 1427., Du Ham. Arb., t. 35.; Buttonwood, Water Beech, Sycamore, Cotton Tree, Amer.; Platane de Virginie, Fr.

Derivation. Button-wood refers to the smooth round heads of flowers, which resemble the globular buttons formerly in use, and still seen in some military costumes; Sycamore to the resemblance of the leaves to those of that tree; and Cotton Tree to the down detached in the course of the summer from the leaves.

Engravings. Cat. Carol., t. 56.; Dend. Brit., t. 100.; Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 2. t. 63.; our fig. 1959.; and the plate of this species in our last, Volume. In fig. 1959., a represents a transverse section of the female catkin in flower; b, the same in fruit; c, the female flower and scale; d, the stamen and scale; e, the longitudinal section of a seed; and f, an entire seed.

Spec. Char., &c. Leaves 5-angled, obsoletely lobed, dentate, wedgeshaped at the base; downy beneath. (Wild.) A tree, a native of North America, where it grows to the height of 70 ft. or 80 ft.; with a widely spreading head. It flowers in May; and ripens its seeds in October. Introduced before 1636. The Occidental plane is easily distinguished from the Oriental plane, by its leaves being larger, and less deeply lobed (see fig.1951. a. in p. 2033.); and by the

red colour of their petioles; the petioles of P. orientális being green. The fruit is, also, much larger, and rather smoother.

Variety.

P. o. 2 tortuosa; Platane tortillard, Fr.-This variety, according to Bosc, was found by Malesherbes in a bed of seedlings. The stem is full of knots, which render the fibres tortuous, and, consequently, difficult to split, like those of the Ulmus campestris tortuòsa, mentioned in p. 1376.; and, like that variety, it is thought to be suitable for the naves of wheels. We have not heard of its being in cultivation in French nurseries. In the Nouveau Du Hamel, it is stated that M. Daubenton, fils, who raised many plants of the Occidental platanus for seed, found the varieties almost infinite.

Description, &c. The American, or Western, plane, in magnitude and general appearance, bears so close a resemblance to the Oriental plane, that, by many persons, they are confounded together. The former, however, is a larger tree; of much more rapid growth than the Oriental plane; with broader and less deeply cut leaves, red petioles, and fruit comparatively smooth, and considerably larger. The bark is said to scale off in larger pieces, and the wood to be more curiously veined. In all other respects, the descriptive particulars of both trees are the same. The rate of growth of P. occidentalis, when placed near water, is so rapid, that in 10 years it will attain the height of 40 ft.; and a tree in the Palace Garden at Lambeth, near a pond, in 20 years had at

from the ground, or about 1 ft. 10 in. in diameter; which gives nine lines and a half, or more than three quarters of an inch, of increase annually.

Geography. The American plane is found over an immense tract of land in North America, comprising the Atlantic and western states, and extending beyond the Mississippi. "The nature of the button-wood," says Michaux, "confines it to moist and cool grounds, where the soil is loose, deep, and fertile; the luxuriance of its vegetation depending on a combination of these circumstances. It is never found upon dry lands of an irregular surface, among white and red oaks and walnuts; it is also more rare in the mountainous tract of the Alleghanies than in the flat country. It is remarked, in that part of Virginia which lies upon the road from Baltimore to Petersburg, that, though the button-wood is abundant in the swamps, its growth is stunted; and that its trunk does not, in general, exceed 8 in. or 10 in. in diameter. Farther south, in the lower parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, it is not abundant even on the sides of the rivers; and is not seen in the branch swamps, already mentioned, which intersect the pine barrens, and which are principally covered with the small magnolia (Magnòlia glaúca), the red bay (Laúrus caroliniensis), the loblolly bay (Gordònia Lasianthus), the red maple (Acer rubrum), &c. The reason that the button-wood is not found in these small marshes is, perhaps, that the layer of vegetable mould, which is black and always miry, is not sufficiently thick and substantial to support its growth; and that the heat, in this part of the southern states, is excessive. The button-wood is in no part of North America more abundant and more vigorous than along the great rivers of Pennsylvania and of Virginia; though in the more fertile valleys of the west its vegetation is, perhaps, still more luxuriant; especially on the banks of the Ohio, and of the rivers which empty into it. The bottoms which are watered by these rivers are covered with dark forests, composed of trees of an extraordinary size. The soil is very deep, loose, of a brown colour, and unctuous to the touch: it appears to have been formed by the slime deposited in the course of ages, at the annual overflowing of the rivers. The leaves, which every autumn form a thick layer upon the surface, and the old trees, that fall by the weight of years, and crumble into vegetable mould, give to this soil, already so fertile, a degree of fecundity which is without example in Europe, and which is manifested by prodigies of vegetation. The margin of the great rivers of the West is occupied by the willow, after which comes the white maple (Acer eriocárpum), and next the button-wood; but this arrangement is not uniformly observed; and the maple alone, or, as it more frequently happens, mingled with the button-wood, sometimes grows upon the brink. Among the trees which compose these forests, the three species mentioned are least liable to injury from the continued presence of water; and, by their position, they are exposed to have their bases every year inundated by the swelling of the rivers. In these situations, the button-wood is constantly found to be the loftiest and largest tree of the United States." (North Amer. Syl., ii. p. 58.)

History. In the Atlantic states, this tree is commonly known by the name of button-wood; and sometimes, in Virginia, by that of water beech. On the banks of the Ohio, and in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, it is most frequently called sycamore, and by some persons plane, tree. The French of Canada and of Upper Louisiana give it the name of the cotton tree. The first of these denominations appears to be the most widely diffused, and, in fact, to be that by which the tree is most generally known in America. The name cotton tree alludes to the thick down which covers the under surface of the leaves when they first expand, and which becomes gradually detached from them in the course of the summer. In some parts of the United States, where the tree is very abundant, the inhabitants, according to Michaux, regard it with dread, as they think this down, detached and floating in the air, has a tendency to produce irritation of the lungs, and, finally, consumption. The American plane was one of the trees discovered and figured by Catesby in his Natural History of Carolina (i. t. 56.); and it was introduced about 1630,